[toady42]

I have had multiple library cards working on my Kobo device since 2022.

In December 2023 I tried adding a new library card to my OverDrive account with no success. I could still use an OverDrive account (email/password) but I just couldn't add a new card.

At this time I attempted what I believe you're trying to do by manually inserting library details in the OverDriveLibrary and OverDriveCards tables. Unfortunately, I was never able to get it to work.

I believe Kobo resolved the December 2023 issue around August 2024 and I was once again able to add the new library card to my OverDrive account.

In July 2025 OverDrive removed the ability to log onto your Kobo device using an OverDrive account (email/password) effectively removing the ability to set up multiple library cards on Kobo devices.

Now, I will outline what I attempted in December 2023 to manually update the OverDriveLibrary and OverDriveCards tables in order to add the new library.

Since I already had multiple library cards linked, I took a look at the database tables to see what the values for a linked library card looked like.

The OverDriveLibrary table contains a record for the currently active library.

The OverDriveCards table contains records for the libraries currently linked to an OverDrive account.

Here are the values from the tables for my primary library:

Data View of OverDriveLibrary (linked cards)
1. Selected = 'true'
2. WebsiteId = 142
3. LibraryKey = 'ottawa'
4. Name = 'Ottawa Public Library'

Data View of OverDriveCards (linked cards)
1. CardId = 87456798
2. LibraryKey = 'ottawa'
3. BestLibraryKey = 'ottawa'
4. WebsiteId = 142
5. Name = 'Kobo eReader'
6. LastModified = (date)

I then logged into OverDrive using the library card number and PIN for my new library so I could see what values got populated in the OverDriveLibrary and OverDriveCards tables.

Here are the values from the tables:

Data View of OverDriveLibrary (single card)
1. Selected = 'true'
2. WebsiteId = 130223
3. LibraryKey = 'milton'
4. Name = 'Milton Public Library'

Data View of OverDriveCards (single card)
1. CardId = 87366557
2. LibraryKey = 'milton'
3. BestLibraryKey = 'milton-visitor'
4. WebsiteId = 130223
5. Name = (library card number)
6. LastModified = (date)

Then I logged back into my OverDrive account on my Kobo using an already linked library and attempted to insert the following values into the OverDriveCards table. I left the OverDriveLibrary table alone since it correctly contained the last library I just logged into on my Kobo device being my primary library.

Data Insert into OverDriveCards
1. CardId = 87366557
2. LibraryKey = 'milton'
3. BestLibraryKey = 'milton-visitor'
4. WebsiteId = 130223
5. Name = 'Kobo eReader'
6. LastModified = (date)

Basically I took the data for Milton Public Library as a single card and changed the value of Name from (library card number) to 'Kobo eReader' which was also the value of Name for my other linked libraries. Unfortunately, this did not link the Milton Public Library to my OverDrive account.

Now that I have Milton Public Library properly linked to my OverDrive account I will show you the values in the OverDriveLibrary and OverDriveCards tables for it as a linked library.

Data View of OverDriveLibrary (linked cards)
1. Selected = 'true'
2. WebsiteId = 130223
3. LibraryKey = 'milton'
4. Name = 'Milton Public Library'

As you can see, these values are the same for a library as either a single library or an OverDrive account linked library.

Data View of OverDriveCards (linked cards)
1. CardId = 87367291
2. LibraryKey = 'milton'
3. BestLibraryKey = 'milton-visitor'
4. WebsiteId = 130223
5. Name = 'Kobo eReader'
6. LastModified = (date)

As you can see CardId as a linked library is 87367291 whereas CardId as a single library was 87366557.

I believe that's why manually inserting library card data failed. There is no way of knowing the CardId of a linked library until you actually link it to your OverDrive account. Simply using the CardId when logging in as a single card isn't the correct value when it's a linked card.

Note: In the case of multiple libraries linked to your Kobo, under More->Settings->OverDrive you will only ever see the last library logged into which is the active library. You never see a list of linked libraries.